Parents attacked daughter for photos

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Liam Heylin

Probation reports are to be prepared on the mother and father who assaulted their teenage daughter in efforts to seize her mobile phone after she posted pictures of herself on Facebook of which they disapproved.

Judge Olann Kelleher read a victim impact statement on behalf of the injured party, who was 15 years old when she was assaulted by both parents.

Sentencing of the mother and father had been adjourned until yesterday to allow time for the preparation of a victim impact statement.

This was presented in writing and read by Judge Kelleher without being opened to the court.

The victim, who has since turned 16, was present for the case in Cork District Court yesterday.

Judge Kelleher said he was concerned to read in the victim impact statement that while the teenager was no longer living at the family home, she had not been in communication with her siblings.

“You don’t see your brothers and sisters?” Judge Kelleher said to the teenage girl.

She replied: “No, not anymore.”

The judge said he would have thought that, from the point of view of the injured party’s recovery, it would be important for her to maintain contact with her siblings.

After expressing this concern, the judge put sentencing of the parents back until June 12 to allow time for preparation of probation reports on each of them.

Before the case was adjourned, the judge again addressed the victim.

He suggested that “contact, as appropriate, would continue with your siblings to help your recovery”.

The injured party’s father was before Cork District Court on a charge of assaulting her.

Her mother was also in court facing sentencing on a charge of assault causing harm to her.

In respect of the harm, Inspector Ronan Kennelly said the teenager’s face bore the mark on her face of the sole of her mother’s shoe following the assault.

Inspector Kennelly said: “It was all as a consequence of photographs of herself that her daughter placed on social media.

“It emanated from parental control or loss thereof.”

The teenage girl went to gardaí and reported her mother and father for assaulting her.

The incident with her father occurred when he arrived to see her standing at an upstairs window of the family home using her phone despite the fact that her parents had told her she was not to use it.

She complained to gardaí that, when he tried to get the phone from her, he pulled her hair and she said he kicked her on the ground — a claim which he denied.

The teenager then left the house and later in the evening her mother found her and brought her home and there was another altercation.

She claimed her mother tried to pull her phone from her and she threatened to bite her mother to stop her and that her mother kicked her in order to stop her.